A bread seller in Lagos State, identified as Yinka, aka Buredi, has been arrested by policemen from the Adekunle Division of the Lagos Police Command, after he murdered a 28-year-old man, Ajayi Peters, aka Ajana, during an argument over N50 loaf of bread.
The incident which happened at Church Street, Makoko, Yaba, according to eyewitnesses, occurred when the deceased was trying to prevail on Yinka to sell bread to one of his customers on credit.
In the ensuing fight that followed the argument, Yinka reportedly picked a knife and stabbed Peters in the head. He was said to have died in a private hospital.
A resident of the area who witnessed the incident, said the suspect was only acting in self defence after the deceased had beaten him up during the scuffle.
“The incident happened on Tuesday, June 16, around 11pm. The man that died was collecting fees from traders. He and Buredi (Yinka) had been having issues because Ajana (Peters) and some members of his group sometimes threw away his goods whenever they had problems with him.
But on that day, a man had approached him to buy N50 loaf of bread on credit. The bread seller started shouting at the customer that he should not come near his bread because he was not ready to sell on credit.
At a point, Buredi said, ‘No powerful man on this street can take the loaf from me and give you.’ That statement incensed Ajana who felt insulted, believing Buredi was indirectly referring to him and went to Buredi and ordered him to give the man the bread on credit.
This led to a round of insults which later led to a fight. Peters was the first to push Yinka and he fell down. In anger, he picked a knife and stabbed Ajana in the head. He started bleeding."
The culprit allegedly fled the area while the deceased was rushed to a private hospital where the doctors treated the wound and stitched him up.
But due to the seriousness of the wound and due to the fact that he had lost much blood, he died from the injuries around 4 am the following day.
Another resident said the suspect did not mean to kill the deceased. He claimed the bread vendor had always been harassed by hoodlums in the community, adding that it was unfortunate Peters died from the attack.
“The problem started during the elections when they discovered he was supporting a rival political party. They harassed him and damaged his goods at that time.
Whenever they saw him plying his trade, they harassed him. What happened that day was just unfortunate. The man only acted in self defence.”
